New York State Energy Research and Development Authority

Booz Allen Hamilton, Siemens and Power Analytics will study the technical and economic feasibility of installing community microgrids in 16 cities across New York. These communities were each awarded $100,000 in initial microgrid funding through New York State's NY Prize competition in order to evaluate how microgrids local energy networks that are able to separate from the larger electrical grid can expand customer choice, ensure power reliability, improve resiliency and preserve the environment.

NextEra Energy Resources, through an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary, and Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3), completed a 2.6-MW solar system on the main college campus in Dryden, New York. The system, installed on approximately 10 acres, is expected to meet 90 percent of the college's electricity needs. The ground-mounted fixed-array system is composed of 8,676 solar modules. TC3 will purchase the electricity from the solar project over the term of a 25-year PPA.

PSEG Long Island coordinated an effort with New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to launch on-bill recovery and smart energy loans. All PSEG Long Island residential customers are now able to apply for solar PV systems from local contractors through a Smart Energy Loan or On-Bill Recovery loan, which provides the convenience of repaying the loan through their PSEG Long Island bill. The program includes two, low-interest loan options through Green Jobs - Green New York (GJGNY).

Technology is quickly making energy storage more economical and effective than ever before. But companies that wish to invest in storage capacity face a journey through a frustrating regulatory no-man’s land. Opening the gateway for storage to deliver smart grid benefits will require a more streamlined and coherent approach to regulating storage as utility infrastructure.

As new energy efficiency programs proliferate, regulators increasingly will seek to use the associated demand reductions to reduce capital expenditures on new transmission and distribution assets. However, forecasting the expected geographic distribution of these demand reductions within the grid and integrating this information into a utility’s capital planning process is a challenging task.

New York has developed new market mechanisms intended to effectively incorporate large amounts of renewable energy in the future — up to six times the current levels of intermittent energy without impacting system reliability. New York ISO executive Rana Mukerji explains how the market will drive new investment in renewable energy in the state.

Given this dynamic state of evolution, it’s not surprising that next-generation technologies are undergoing their own difficult transitions. This transition is exemplified by four high-tech projects being executed by four electric utilities: Duke Energy, American Electric Power, Consolidated Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric. Their projects address different parts of the power-supply chain, and they’re taking different paths to secure financing and regulatory acceptance.

New Models for Energy RD&D: A new ‘Clean Energy Institute’ could lead the industry’s war on climate change.

Clean-energy R&D needs better funding and leadership to meet aggressive greenhouse-gas emissions reduction targets. But how does the industry get there, and what management model best suits achieving such lofty goals? A new ‘clean-energy institute’ might be the answer.

Capacity shortages from global warming should be the real cause for alarm.

Suppose the experts are wrong about climate change. Suppose they’ve underestimated the impact of global warming. Of course, to longtime readers of Public Utilities Fortnightly, the idea that a warming climate might force adjustments in utility resource plans is nothing new.